​If there is one thing we do know about small business owners, it is that they are extremely busy and almost always hustling. Although many small business owners identify search engine optimization (SEO) as a vital marketing strategy, the majority lack the skills or resources to implement everything that is required to get their website on top of the search results where they can be found. At the very same time, most small businesses have limited budgets for digital marketing.

Having a good-looking website is great but not very useful if nobody finds it. Although SEO can be a daunting task, small business owners should pay attention to the following basic guidelines and concepts.

​The primary reason small business owners struggle with SEO is that their website is not designed with Google in mind. Sure, your website may look good, but if it is not properly structured, very few people will find it. It is critical to develop your website with a strong website structure so that search engines can correctly scan and analyze your web pages.

​The next most critical factor in developing a successful small business website is keyword research and usage. The better your small company website ranks for important search terms related to your business, the more it will be found by potential customers looking for the goods and services you offer. Keep it simple and focus on a limited number of keywords per page. Create additional pages if needed.

​The telephone books are long gone but these days, online business directories offer similar services. There are hundreds of online business directories, and some are more important than others. Submitting your website to multiple online business directories is time consuming but this service can be automated. By far, the most important business directory is Google My Business (GMB). Setting up a Google My Business profile is straightforward and will significantly help your business to be found on the internet, even if you do not have a website.

​Alco Web Design provides small business website design and SEO services for a professional and cost-effective presence on the web. We are a small business and understand the needs of small business owners. We provide personalized and dedicated services, and you ALWAYS deal directly with the owner.

For more information or help with small business SEO best practices, keywords selection, and online business directories, please contact us at Alco Web Design LLC and we will get back to you promptly.

​Getting your customers to post reviews about your products and services can be one of the most beneficial ways to increase your ranking on Google and boost sales. Many business owners feel that reviews don't do much for their business and focus on other marketing activities.

However, almost 80% of potential customers will look up a company’s website, read its reviews, and check its star rating before making their purchase decision. This fact makes it very important for you to encourage your customers to post reviews after they have purchased your product or service.

By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

There are three key benefits of customer reviews:

1. You can use these reviews to market your business.
2. Reviews also give you the chance to understand better what is going well and what things you are doing right. Even negative reviews and criticism from customers are an opportunity for you to determine what needs improvement.
3. Customer reviews also significantly boost the visibility of your small business on Google. There is an ever-increasing need to encourage honest and genuine reviews for your products and services, on GMB.

Although you may have various other aspects of your local search and marketing strategy covered, you should never underestimate the power of review data. 

​Google always focuses on delivering the most beneficial & relevant results for all local searches. Not only are they interested in knowing what your business does, but how your customers perceive it. To a great extent, they determine this by the number of reviews you have overall and what your average star rating on GMB is.

Very recently, Google has also updated its online map searches layout to display reviews and ratings very prominently. When it comes to Local SEO rankings, the quantity and quality of reviews become vital ranking factors. Business listings with a higher number of reviews are perceived as more credible than businesses with fewer or poor reviews.

​One of the best ways to maintain control over your reviews and maximize their effect is to encourage customers to post reviews about your business, on your Google+ Local page. This aspect is something you need to prioritize. It's also crucial that you source reviews ethically and efficiently. Here are some ways to do that:

• Offer excellent customer service. Happy and satisfied customers translate to better reviews and ratings.
• Set a strategy in place so that customers feel encouraged to post reviews; don’t just wait for things to happen.
• You can start with requesting family and friends that use your products or services, to post their reviews.
• Following a purchase, make it a point to ask new and existing customers to write reviews.
• Make it very easy for your customers to leave reviews. You can include a link on your website that leads them to your GMB page.

It’s never a good idea to solicit reviews by offering incentives and promotions. If this comes to light, it can affect your ranking on Google. For more information about how you can ethically build your presence on GMB with positive customer reviews, contact us Alco Web Design; we will respond promptly.

There are numerous strategies that can be used by companies who want to use website marketing to extend their reach and increase sales.

Common Methods
The most common methods of online marketing are Search Engine Marketing, paid advertising, E-publishing and networking. Let’s take a look at the different types of marketing and how they work.  Search engines work best when a website is indexed well.  The page rank that your website receives will decide where it is placed on search results. A higher page rank means more website traffic. Getting that high page rank is all important when it comes to visibility on the internet and your chances of being found by your targeted customers. I have outlined these methods for you:

• E-Publishing- It’s not so easy to get that high listing and it can also be a very expensive and time consuming affair. This is where SEO comes into the picture. E-publishing is somewhat like traditional print media but in this case, you are placing your ad on the internet and your company website is in effect that ad. You should also send out periodic newsletters to customers and the content on your site should be written and optimized well.
• Networking- This is about building online contacts & business relationships. You can sign up for new groups, email or sales discussions. Regular and consistent participation helps in building a reputation which is a big part of marketing.
• ​Paid advertising- In this kind of advertising, you purchase a banner ad on any high-traffic website of your choice. When a visitor to the site clicks on your ad, he/she gets directed to your website which can turn into a potential sale.

Consistency counts
There are numerous other mediums of internet marketing but these are the most basic. Understanding and mastering these is the best way to get started and it will give your business that head start it needs. Your online presence and your marketing efforts cannot be built in a day. Online marketing success is about using all the relevant methods and making a continuous and concerted effort.

For additional details about Internet marketing, feel free to contact me or visit my website at www.alcowebdesign.com.

My most successful customers are those who work closely with me to design\optimize their websites and save their time and energy for free internet marketing.  Internet marketing is the art of turning your website into a powerful marketing tool. Many internet marketing techniques do not require any specific knowledge and can be implemented for free.  Here are a few ideas:

Please do not hesitate to contact Alco Web Design or to visit our website if you have any questions about free internet marketing.

Alain Houle, President
Alco Web Design LLC - http://www.alcowebdesign.com
N1337 Westgreen drive, Greenville Wisconsin 54942
920-850-4642

• Website promotion starts with website design: Your website needs to provide useful, original, and well organized information that people need, like, and want to go back to. Work and rework the content of your pages.
• Focus on giving: Visitors will come back to your website if it provides them with something useful and easy to find. Information, tips, and ideas are great and do not cost you much.
• Periodic content modifications: Give a reason to people to come back to your website. Create a newsletter, on-line promotions, discussion boards, games, create some hype!
• Publish articles: Publish quality informational articles to blogs or free electronic magazines such as EzineArticles.com and include links back to your website. People interested by your article will go to your website for more information and details.
• Good web page layout: Keeping your website layout simple and standard will help visitors finding what they need and they will thank you for that by coming back to your website.
• Email signatures: Email signatures are a few lines of text that automatically get attached to each email you send. Include your website name on those email signatures so everybody that you send emails to know about your website.
• Conventional mailing campaign: Contact your suppliers, customers, partners, retailers, etc. Offer them web only promotional items so they go to your website. Be careful: What works for conventional mailing programs does not always convert well to the Internet where unsolicited mail is often associated to junk and may project a negative image of your company.
• Local business listings: Small business listings are often available through the chamber of commerce, town hall, or other municipal and regional organizations. Most of these services are free. This is especially important for small companies that do most of their businesses locally. Get listed! (How to use the local search directories?)
• Classified ads: Write ads on free classified websites such as Backpage.com, Craigslist.org, and USFreeAds.com with links back to your website. Don't not expect massive results, but it is free.

Please do not hesitate to contact Alco Web Design if you have any questions about how to build initial website traffic for free.

Alain Houle, President
Alco Web Design LLC - http://www.alcowebdesign.com
N1337 Westgreen drive, Greenville Wisconsin 54942
920-850-4642